Container stanchion



' Nov. 18, 1969 Filed Feb. 26, 1968 (K. W. TANTLINGER 3,478,903

CONTAINER STANCHION 2 Sheets-Sheet l m 37 Eg .5. A75 /f/fi? Z27! 1271/ INVENTOR.

Nov. 18, 1969 K. w. TANTLINGER 3,478,903

7 CONTAINER STANCHION Filed Feb. 26, 1968 2 Sheets-Sheet S 40 YA m! 5 W]! INVENTOR.

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United States Patent O M 3,478,903 CONTAINER STANCHION Keith W. Tantlinger, Grosse Pointe Shores, Mich., as-

signor to Fruehauf Corporation, Detroit, Mich., a corporation of Michigan Filed Feb. 26, 1968, Ser. No. 708,118 Int. Cl. B65q 67/02 US. Cl. 21438 6 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The stanchion has vertical uprights on which a frame is vertically movable having a pair of forwardly projecting pins at the bottom which are engageable with the apertures facing rearwardly at the bottom of the container. Vertically movable heads on the frame have downwardly extending pins which are movable into the upwardly presenting apertures at the top rear corners of the container to have the four pins secure the container on the uprights for vertical adjustment.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION A search of the art uncovered patents 2,720,324 and 2,936,912 which are not believed to anticipate the claims of the present application.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The container stanchion of the present invention has a pair of uprights which may be supported in any manner and is herein illustrated as being attached to the side of an opening of a warehouse or attached to forwardly extending members which retain the uprights in vertical position. A rectangular frame is secured for vertical movement on the uprights by any suitable means such as by a cable or a ram, as herein illustrated, or the like. At the lower corners of the frame outwardly projecting pins are provided spaced the same distance apart as the apertures at the bottom rear corners of the container. At the upper two corners of the frame, a collar supports a head having a downwardly projecting pin which extends into upwardly presenting apertures at the top rear corners of the container when the collars are moved downwardly. The collars have operating means secured thereto by which they are lowered to insert the pins into the top corner apertures after the first pins extend into the rearwardly presenting apertures at the bottom of the container. This locks the container against the downward and forward movement permitting the tractor to be pulled forward from beneath the container. The frame may be adjusted vertically on the uprights to locate the container at the opening of the building or may be lowered to ground level or may be retained in tractor-height position if another tractor is to pick up the container and move it to another position.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a stanchion with a container supported thereon embodying features of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged broken side view of the structure illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view of the structure illustrated in FIG. 2, taken on the line 3-3 thereof;

FIG. 4 is a view of the structure illustrated in FIG. 1 with a trailer moved into engagement with the container; and

FIG. 5 is a broken perspective view of a supporting structure for a container applied to the side of a building about an opening therein.

3,478,903 Patented Nov. 18, 1969 DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to FIGS. 1 to 4, the container stanchion 11 has vertical uprights 12 and 13 secured to angularly disposed members 14 and 15 and a brace 16. Plates 17 are placed beneath the stanchions and the members at the rear and forward bottom portions thereof. The uprights are of hollow rectangular construction having a slot 18 in the front face which extends from approximately the bottom to the top of the uprights. A slidable rectangular member 19 is disposed within the uprights 12 and 13 having a neck portion 21 extending through the slot 18 and terminating in side members 22 of a frame 23 which is completed by a top cross member 24 and a bottom cross member 25.

The frame 23 is herein illustrated as being carried on a cable 26 which extends over a pair of pulleys 27 and 28 supported on an I-beam 29 which connects the uprights 12 and 13 and the members 15 at the top. The cable extends downwardly from the pulley 28 and is connected to a winch mechanism 31 which is driven through a reduction unit 32 by a manually operated handle 33. This permits the frame to be moved from ground level upwardly above the position illustrated in FIG. 1. The side members 22 of the frame are centered on the rearwardly presenting apertures 34 at the rear of the container 35. The bottom corners of the frame 23 support a pair of pins 36 on the center line of the side members 22 in position to project within the apertures 34 at the bottom corners of the container.

The upper portion of the side members 22 of the frame support collars 37 which are vertically adjustable thereon by a rod 38 which is fixed to an extension 39 on the collar. The lower end of the rod 38 has threads 41 which engage an internal thread on a worm wheel which is turned by a worm on a shaft 42 manually actuated by a handle 43. Each collar 37 supports a head 44 having a downwardly extending pin 45 thereon. The pin 45 is moved downwardly with the collar 37 to extend within the upwardly presenting apertures at the top corners of the container 35 after it had been backed into position to have the lower pins 36 enter the apertures 34 at the bottom corners of the container. After the pins 36 are engaged, the handles 43 are operated to move the heads 44 downwardly to insert the pins 45 within the upwardly presenting apertures.

It is to be understood that the frame is adjustable in height to have the pins 36 accurately aligned with the apertures 34 at the bottom corners before the container 35 is backed into engagement with the frame. The handles 43 are then operated to lower the pins 45 into the apertures at the top corners of the container. The trailer may then be pulled from beneath the container and the container will be supported against movement downwardly by the pins 36 and forwardly by the pins 45. The container may be left in this position until it is ready to be picked up or it may be emptied at the level it is left or at any level which is more convenient either on ground level or at any height within the vertical movement of the frame.

The container may be raised above the platform of the trailer when the trailer is to be removed or when it is to be backed thereunder to receive the container which is lowered onto the trailer platform. It is further to be understood that when a stanchion is attached by its frame to a container as illustrated in FIG. 4, that the winding of the cable 26 on the winch mechanism 31 will raise the frame 11 from the ground so that the tractor can move the stanchion to any other parked position, whether at an opening in the wall of a warehouse or in another parking area. The frame being attached to the container 35 will cause the uprights 13 to remain parallel therewith to thereby raise the attached members 14, 15 and 16 vertically along therewith.

Referring to FIG. 5, a slightly modified form of the in vention is illustrated that wherein uprights 51 and 52 are the same as the uprights 12 and 13 above referred to but which are fixed to the face 53 of a building at the sides of an opening 54 therein. A frame 55 similar to the frame 23 is carried by the uprights 51 and 52 having a neck portion extending through the slots 18 in the forward face of the uprights. The frame 55 carries heads 56 which are movable vertically in the same manner as above described concerning the heads 44. The heads 56 have downwardly extending pins 57 thereon. The frame is supported on a piston rod 60 which extends from a cylinder 58 by which the frame is adjusted vertically. Pins 59 at the bottom of the frames 55 are aligned with the apertures 34 of the container 35 which is moved rearwardly to have pins 59 enter the apertures therein after which the heads 56 are moved downwardly to have the pins 57 extend within the upwardly presenting apertures at the top corners of the container. This is done in the same manner by the use of the rod 38 and the manually actuable handle 43. By vertically adjusting the frame 55 the rear face of the container 35 can be aligned with the opening 54 of the building so that the contents can be removed or articles to be shipped stored therein. When the container is raised the tractor can be removed and when in raised position the tractor can be backed thereunder to receive the container when the frame is lowered.

It is to be understood that the frame can be omitted and the bottom pins 36 attached directly to the upright with the collars 37 movable upwardly and downwardly thereon for the insertion of the pins 45 into the upwardly presenting apertures in the upper corners of the container. It is further to be understood that bearing faces, rollers, balls or the like may be employed between the uprights 12 and 13 and the slidable element 19 and that a lubricant can be employed to have the members 19 readily slide within the uprights. Since there is no weight on the collar 37 when it is adjusted vertically, there is no friction problem to be considered.

What is claimed is:

1. In a rigid fixed support for a container, a pair of 4 uprights, means for supporting said uprights in vertical position, a frame mounted on said uprights for vertical movement thereon, a pair of horizontally disposed corner pins extending forwardly from the bottom of said frame in position to extend within horizontal apertures at the bottom corners of an end wall of a container, vertically slidable locking elements at the top corners of the frame, a downwardly extending pin supported by said locking elements in position to move downwardly into upwardly presenting apertures at the top corners of said end wall of a container, means for raising and lowering said frame on said uprights, and means for raising and lowering said locking elements on said frame.

2. In a rigid fixed support for a container, as recited in claim 1, wherein the raising and lowering means for the frame is a cable passing over pulleys and secured to a winch on the support, and means for operating said winch.

3. In a rigid fixed support for a container, as recited in claim 1, wherein the means for producing the vertical movement of the frame is a piston in a cylinder.

4. In a rigid fixed support for a container, as recited in claim 1, wherein the uprights are supported by members which are secured together and extending from the uprights in the same direction as the horizontally extending pins.

5. In a rigid fixed support for a container, as recited in claim 1, wherein the support is raisable on the frame when the frame is secured to the container on a trailer to be supported thereby for transportation therewith.

6. In a rigid fixed support for a container, as recited in claim 1, wherein the fixed support is a building having a doorway located between said uprights.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 6/1963 Gutridge, et al. 9/1965 Tantlinger et al.

ROBERT G. SHERIDAN, Primary Examiner 

